Label Design

Below is a potential label design I came up with for the Wild Flower Wheat. Any ideas to improve?

Status Updates

Belgian Dubbel
The Belgian Dubbel just began its primary fermenting on Monday. It took about 30 hours before I seen any action taking play within the carboy. Right now it is blowing out a bubble every 5 seconds and a thick layer of krausen has formed on top of the carboy. The fermentation temperature is around 68 - 70 degrees. I will keep a close watch on it this weekend because the Philadelphia area is supposed to get temperatures in the 80's.

Ed Wort's Apfelwein
The apfelwein seems to be fermenting or doing its thing. It is in a plastic bucket fermenting, so I can not see what is going on. I smelled the top of the airlock to get a hint of what is coming out and it smelled like rotten eggs. This is common in certain strains of yeast. And since this yeast is a wine yeast, it probably produces some interesting smells.

Wild Flower Wheat
The Wild Flower Wheat is just about hitting the 2 week mark of fermentation and should be bottled this weekend. It is still shooting out a bubble about every minute or so. The fermentation temperature is around 64-66 degrees. I might try to warm up the Wild Flower Wheat a little bit to make sure fermentation is complete.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone)
The Fat Tire Amber Ale has been conditioning just about 2 weeks now. I was impatient and sampled one at the 1 week mark, and it tasted wonderful. This recipie will be brewed again this weekend, but with some personal tweeks to the recipie.

Wild Flower Wheat - 6 Days of Fermenting

The Wild Flower Wheat is still going strong in the ferment. The krausen is lowering, which is good... but it is still blowing out a good amount of bubbles after 6 days. I might have to leave this batch in the fermenter close to 3 weeks.

I also need a new hydrometer due to an "accident" from last weekend. Around the 2.5 week mark, I will start taking hydrometer readings to ensure fermentation is complete. If the hydrometer reading stays constant over 2 days, it is safe enough to bottle.

Also, there will be some interesting brews being made. Stay tuned!

Wild Flower Wheat - 5 Days of Fermenting

Maybe it is the ingredients of this batch, or the yeast, or the higher sugar content... but this batch is still fermenting pretty strong. It is still blowing out a bubble about every 5 seconds after 5 days! The krausen has died down a bit and it is less foamy that it was a few days ago. Also the color is still a golden brown.. looking almost like apple cider.

I will be letting this one ferment for a total of 2 - 2.5 weeks before bottling. Also, once it is bottled, I will let it condition for about 2-3 weeks before cracking one open. I can't wait to drink that 6% ABV goodness!

Wild Flower Wheat - 4 Days of Fermenting

It looks like the krausen is done coming through the blow-off hose and now it is just blowing out a bubble every 5 seconds. Not much to update as fermentation is slowing down. I will probably replace the blow-off hose with a 3-piece air lock tonight.

Wild Flower Wheat - 3 Days of Fermenting

The blow-off hose is working great. The foam just seems to be flying right through the tube with no clogging. I will never use a air lock during the first days of fermentation again! The tube is blowing out bubbles about every 3-5 seconds. I do not see any clogging in the tube at all.

I checked on it this morning before work and it looks like it is starting to slow down. Some foam has settled in the tube and the CO2 pressure is slowing a bit. Depending on how the tube looks when I get home, I might replace the blow-off hose with the air lock since the beer is nearing the end of the primary fermentation stage (when the yeast is most active).

Wild Flower Wheat - 2 Days of Fermenting

It looks like the blow-off hose is doing it's job. The krausen has started to form in the carboy. The foam is blowing out of the tube and into the saucer of water with no issues. I will closely monitor the fermentation daily just in case the hose somehow gets clogged.

Wild Flower Wheat - 1 Day of Fermenting

Day 1 of fermenting. The yeast has started moving through the beer. The color has gotten a little bit darker... almost a golden brown. I decided to try the blow-off tube instead of the air lock during fermentation. Not much coming through the tube right now. There should be some CO2 bubbles coming shortly.

Wild Flower Wheat - Brewing Day

Like I said, it was a busy weekend! Not only did we bottle the Fat Tire Amber Ale and plant the Cascade hops, but we also decided to brew up a batch of beer (I can't leave those fermenters empty!).

We decided to go with the Wild Flower Wheat. No Grain is used during the brewing! Just the chamomile flowers, honey, malt and hops. The final alcohol content should be around 6%! Mmmm, strong beer!

Ingredients:

6.6 lbs. of Unhopped Bavarian Wheat Malt Extract
2 oz. of Chamomile Flowers

1 lb. of Wild Flower Honey
2 oz. of Hallertau Hops - 3.9% Alpha Acid

Wyeast American Hefeweizen Yeast WLP320
Servomyces yeast nutrient

5 oz. of Priming Sugar

2.5 Gallons of Spring Water*

Brewing went very well. We tried to be much more sterile with everything we did. We also decided to try topping off the wort with Spring Water. Hopefully doing this will not leave the off aftertastes when it comes time for bottling.

Bavarian Wheat Malt Extract & Honey

Hops and 2 oz. of Chamomile in a tied Muslin Bag

1 Hour of Fermenting

Check out the new blow-off tube setup!! Nice. More to come!